Non-bailable warrant issued against Nithyananda and 5 others

CID officials had issued a notice to Nithyanda to present himself for a potency test

A file picture of self-styled godman Nithyananda (Photo: KPN)

Bengaluru: A non-bailable warrant has been issued by the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court (CJMC), Ramnagara after controversial, self-styled godman Nithyananda Paramahamsa failed to attend the hearing of a ‘committable session’ that was held on Monday. The court has directed the police to execute the non-bailable warrant by August 7, against Nithyananda and five others.

As per the High Court directive, Nithyanda and the others were supposed to attend and file an exemption application on Monday. The prosecution opposed that application and filed an objection. After considering the objection filed by the prosecution, “the court rejected the exemption application filed by Nithyananda’s advocate and issued a non-bailable warrant against the godman and five others,” said public prosecutor, K. Gopal Rao.

Nithyananda had made an appeal to the High Court stating that he was not able to commit the offence he had been accused of. The court had instructed that he undergo a ‘potency’ test to prove this claim. The court had also issued directions to the CID that Nithyananda should cooperate with the CID police and undergo a medical check-up.

The CID officials had issued a notice to Nithyanda on Saturday to present himself for a potency test, but there was no reply from him, said sources from the CID.

A sexual abuse complaint was registered against Nithyananda in the year 2012 when an NRI alleged that she was repeatedly raped during her stay of five years in Nithyananda’s ashram and was threatened with dire consequences if she disclosed the fact publicly.

The then-Karnataka Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda in June 2012 had ordered the arrest of Nithyananda after several of his followers appeared on private Kannada TV news channels and accused the godman of exploiting them sexually. Cases of rape and unnatural sex were registered against the godman and five others in Bidadi police station.